Letters from Dotnuva (cont.)

Translated by Sara Mages

Edited by Yocheved Klausner

Freida, greetings!

Today I came home from Palanga* for the holiday of Chanukah. I'm thinking of staying here for about a week. To tell you the truth, nothing has changed since you left home two months ago. The same long evenings, reading the newspapers, receiving and sending letters. As you can see there is nothing new  life is moving in the same old course, marching in slow quiet steps into the winter with its storms and snow. Today, just to spite, there is a big storm and Dotnuva looks like a wasted desert of snow and frost. I can't complain about my life in Palanga because my work is easy. Like the rest of the teachers I live an easy life without any worries, but the fact is that the quiet conditions and the great comfort don't satisfy me. I don't want to remain a simple citizen among the group of modern idlers who are called Jewish teachers. I see this life as a break from my activities and an escape from the difficult struggle which is life. It is snuggling under a warm blanket, in a very warm room, at a time of real danger and hard life. In the afternoon we get together with a group of other teachers and friends and we entertain ourselves and behave wildly.

Last week there was a dance in Palanga. I attended and had a good time in the company of the crème de la crème, so to speak, of Palanga. Besides that, there was a Hanukah party in the high-school for the children. I'm thinking of going to Kovna this week. Maybe I will participate in the party conference and will also meet Leah. I read in the paper that there was a meeting in New-York of the Jewish Workers Union for 'Eretz-Yisrael Workers'. If you read the Yiddish newspaper you already know about that. I assume that so far you don't know how to leave the front door, and you don't go anywhere on your own. It must be really difficult to adapt yourself to the whirlpool that is called New-York, especially for someone who comes from Dotnuva, because even in the scale of Lithuania Dotnuva is considered to be one of the smallest and poorest towns. The other bad thing is, here life robs you of the interest in anything and you become indifferent to the seemingly small things in life, but which are very important in the big world. We especially feel the beautiful connection with the facts of life when we come to a larger modern environment. Well, as of now, pay attention to everything that is happening around you, look with an inquiring eye, write us about your impressions and feelings despite the fact that you know very little about your new surroundings. The sudden contrasts and the transfer from darkness to light will greatly mold and influence you. Lately we hear reports about a crisis in Eretz Israel, but we don't know what they are based on. At any rate, Shoshanna wrote me that so far it not affecting her. Be healthy and happy, warm greeting to aunt, uncle, and our relatives.

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